Tuesday, June 14, 2005

Carnaby's First Hunt

Well, I've made up my mind to go rustle up a deer this fall. Should be fun. I'll take the Winchester .30-30 out in the woods and see what there is to see. I've never been hunting before, least nothing bigger than small birds and squirrels, so this ought to be interesting. I'm hoping Mr. Stapers will be able to make it up for the hunt. I also have to figure out just where exactly I can go and legally hunt the furry critters. There's a fancy map utility available online for Washington state hunting that shows you where you can go, but it's kinda complicated and with me being such a noob, I'm not too confident I'm reading it right.

I also have to make sure I know how to properly field dress the deer after I blast it. I got a nice new hunting knife to help with that process. I also need to find a butcher I can bring the dead deer too immediately after blasting it to have it chopped up into nice pieces for the grill.

The deer tag includes a single deer or elk, so I hope I'm not tempted by a big elk, that would be not so good for a first time out. Apparently there's very few elk in my region of Washington State anyway, so it's not a big deal.

If anyone out there wants to give me some hunting advice, I'm glad to take it.

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Oh, the comments you will receive! Best of luck to you this season. I hope your first deer hunt is safe and successful. Here's some basic advice from a long-time South Texas hunter:
1) As you know, sight in that rifle before the hunt.
2) head to toe camo is always good to have. Check with your local outfitter/hunting store to see what they might recommend for your area
3) check your local laws regarding field dressing and transporting. Some states demand that you keep the deer whole before it gets to the butcher. (don't ask me why, they are wierd that way)
4) Never ever puncture the bladder on a deer while gutting. Also, remember to cut the scent glands off. That should be done after you tag the deer and before you slice it open. Failure to do these two things will spoil your meat.

Go forth and have fun. Also, we will want to see pics of your first blood.

6/15/2005 9:41 AM  
Blogger carnaby said...

Got my rifle sighted in, and plan to do again and again as often as possible :)

Unfortunately won't have camo this year, but will have 400 square inches of hunter orange as required by state law in Washington :)

Have to leave either the schlong or the head on to identify gender (just read that yesterday), otherwise can take apart in field.

Thanks for that, about the carefullness with bladder and taking scent glands first, I'm definitely worried about spoiling the meat. My wife's enthusiasm for hunting next year will be influenced by the outcome this year.

Pictures will be forthcoming, if there's anything to see!

6/15/2005 3:00 PM  

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